Tonight
by Insolent Witch
Summary: This is the first chapter in my Keeper!verse. It revolves around the idea that the cities all have souls that reside in real people. Set a bit after No Man's Land. Featuring an Original Female Character and many characters from the DCU  which DC owns.
1. Tonight

**Title**: Tonight (1/?) **Fandom**:DCU, Bat-Family Centered **Characters**: An original (Corvid) and some mentions of Bat-Family members **Word Count**: 1362 **Rating**: PG-R for swearing**Disclaimer**: I don't own Gotham or the Bat-Crew, or any other DC owned Characters **Synopsis**: It's the night before Halloween and Corvid is dreading it

**Author's Notes**: _This takes place sometime after No Man's Land. Gotham City is recovering, but it's been a difficult period for everybody, especially given all the events that lead up to No Man's Land. This is set waaaay before Bruce's Death or Tim's donning the mantle of Red Robin. In this Universe Jason has reappeared. I'm utilizing an idea that I've had for a long time, that a city isn't just like a woman/man they *are* women/men. If there's any interest in this (and maybe even if there's not) I'll keep adding to the AU and bring some of the more prominent DCU characters (maybe around the third chapter). _

Corvid sighs and takes a long hard look in the mirror, dreading the night ahead of her. She knows intellectually that she looks alright, but the tension she's feeling is making the OCD that she usually keeps under wraps spiral up towards the surface. Jet black hair that runs down to her thighs is pulled back in a ponytail, the front strands are tucked behind her ears, even though she already knows that by the end of the night she'll probably be sitting in the shadows glaring at people through her hair… she's always hid behind her hair when she's nervous. She's 5'0 and terribly aware that she's short, which is made all the more obvious because she's overly curvy. In High School her gymnastics instructor was furious at her development. She'd been so petite until her curves came in and secretly she wishes they never did because she doesn't like the attention. Not that she'll show that tonight. Tonight she'll be fierce, she has to be, it's what will be expected of her by her friends and enemies (to tell the truth, she watches both groups with equal suspicion).

Her outfit is like armor tonight, a kind of costume that will make other see her exactly the way she wants them to, it's a subtle art on most nights, but on this night she wants to make a statement. People from Gotham are good at wearing outfits that make statements. She's wearing a shirt with the Gotham Knights' logo proudly emblazoned on it, for her it has nothing to do with sports. She knows who the real Knights of Gotham are, the ones who go out and risk their lives for her every night. Her jeans have gaping holes in them, luckily the important places are still covered. Even though the jeans aren't in much condition to wear they are her favorites, they're the only clothes she has that survived No Man's Land. Her ponytail is made from the tape the Government put up around the borders during NML. The fishnets that she's wearing under her jeans are new though, and she loves them. She's always loved fishnets, they make her feel fierce and naughty and just a little magical. Fishnets really do have a magic all their own. Sometimes she wonders if that's the reason why Gotham Girls have always been drawn towards them. No matter what anybody says she'll always consider Zatanna and Black Canary amongst the girls of Gotham, her girls, her Champions. Once you've had Gotham in your heart you're never the same. It changes you, she changes you. Corvid knows this better than anyone.

She puts on her boots; steel-toed, platforms with a sharp stiletto heel- a heel sharp enough to cut anyone who is stupid enough to try to mug her on her way to her destination tonight. She likes these heels because they add a good eight inches to her height and she knows how to run across rooftops in them if she must. Her belt buckle is a bat-symbol, it was a gift from Star that always makes her smile. She thought about wearing the T-Shirt with Superman's symbol on it that Metro gave her as a joke, but tonight she doesn't need her sense of humor, she needs to show that she is still strong, that Gotham City can survive anything.

She pulls on her trench coat and the hat that makes her look way too much like Phantom Stranger dressed in black, slides on the sunglasses that are far more appropriate than a star-light mask, and locks all seven of the locks on her apartment door. She tries to tell herself that she's not nervous about this meeting, a meeting everyone pretends is a party. But attendance is mandatory so that makes it a meeting in her book. She wishes she could pretend that her nerves are just because it's the night before Halloween. As she walks down the moonlit sidewalk she truly enjoys the crisp feel of the autumn leaves crunching beneath her feet. The chill in the air feels perfect to her, it's just cold enough to be exhilarating but not so frigid out that she's worried about her nose going numb. She could have driven to her meeting, but this is so much better. For her, there is nothing quite like putting your feet to the pavement (or rooftops) and connecting with the land of your city. It is _her_ city, although she doesn't mind that He calls it His. The Bat has sacrificed so much that she wouldn't dream of correcting him, it belongs to him too- she belongs to him too.

She belongs to all of them, even the Prodigal Robin who she still wishes could be brought truly back into the fold. She wishes it because Jason wishes it and yes, she does know what Jason wishes for, she knows what all of them wish. Actually, if she were to concentrate she could tell you what any Gothamite was feeling, needing, dreaming. Hell, half the time she can feel all of it anyway and sometimes it's damned unbearable, but that is her gift and her curse.

There are a select few that she feels more connected to than any others, that she loves above all others. The Bat-Family is her family, and although they've never met her in person she feels like they know her better than anybody else. She pauses for just a moment to make sure that they are alright, that she can't feel any immediate emergencies and smiles. Patrols seem to be slightly boring tonight, which she is grateful for, because tomorrow night will be busy. Halloween always brings with it some nut or nightmare that feels the need to inflict itself on the good people of Gotham.

When she reaches the door that leads to the bar where all the others like herself will be waiting, she takes a deep breath. She makes sure that her eyes will show the right look of steel in them, that her posture will tell everyone in the room that she fears no one. Most of the time she wouldn't give half-a-damn about what other people think, what the other Keepers think (they used to be called Avatars, but then the movie came out, so now they go by an even older name), but this is the first meeting of it's kind since No Man's Land. She told the Stranger that she wouldn't attend if they didn't hold it in Gotham, nobody argued though, they all know that she hardly ever leaves her city. Tonight she has to care what the others think because they have to understand what she wants them to understand. If they know, then their people will know. If she does this right it will cause ripples in the national perception of Gotham and that _has _to happen. It has to happen so that everyone will know what happened with No Man's Land can never happen again. They have to understand that what was done to her is unacceptable, if not for her than for all of her Champions. So she holds her head high, squares her shoulders and prepares herself for a night she is dreading. Politics, manipulation, and games of image can be intriguing, but she likes them much more when there isn't so much riding on them.

Tonight they will see that you can't destroy Gotham. You can beat her, break her down, rob her of her dignity but she will get back up again. Tonight she will show her enemies that they failed, they couldn't kill her no matter how hard they tried and she will make them afraid. With one look she will make them feel as small as the littlest child who cried out during No Man's Land. With a few well timed glares they will know that she is fully aware of who caused it and that they have made an enemy of a powerful ally. As she walks through the door she can't help but look up and almost smile when Star yells out, "Hey Gotham!" After all, tonight, that is her name.


	2. Almost a Party

Gotham allows herself a small smirk as she assesses the bar. The other Keepers of importance are all here, friends and enemies, and every single one of them is watching as she struts through the door. She slides off her sunglasses, normally she would keep them on, but she wants people to see when she's glaring. She walks immediately over to the table hosting the two people she loathes here more than anybody else. David Clarkson and Polly Smith… David, known better as D.C. was one of the chief promoters of NML, not that he'd ever admit it, that wouldn't be politically smart and he is a politician at heart. He's actually a Congressman, the kind with a smile that's too plastic and too bright to ever truly be comforting.

Polly Smith is the twin sister of Metro Smith and Gotham believes she's the reason the phrase "evil twin" exists. Of the two siblings, she's definitely Metropolis' evil, snobby, capitalistic, bitchy half. Polly's tall, Twiggy thin, extremely pale with a pinched sort of face and shockingly white hair that's always pulled back in some severely tight way. Her brother Metro is one of the few people that Gotham counts amongst her friends. He's as tall as his sister but that's about the only thing they have in common. His hair is black and always has that same little curl in it that Superman has, he's incredibly well-muscled, and has more of a tan to his skin than would seem normal on a North East trust fund kid. Gotham thinks of him as the half of Metropolis that Superman represents, he's always the first guy who wants to save the orphans, pull kittens out of trees and help old ladies across the street. To top it all off he's an actual Boy Scout, she remembers how proud he was when he earned his status as an Eagle Scout and it was everything she could do to avoid laughing. Polly's the elitist with the huge crush on Lex Luthor, the belief that Superman is an interloping alien who should stay out of human affairs, that humans are better than any other race and that she is better than anybody else.

A part of Corvid is actually grateful that her mother didn't give her name that meant Gotham; she's an anomaly amongst her kind but not just because of her name. She is the youngest Keeper ever. Most Keepers don't come into their powers until their 16th birthday. At that point, the previous Keeper (usually a parent or Grandparent because these things tend to run in family lines, although there are exceptions) starts training them in the duties and difficulties of the job. Sometime after that the elder Keeper will pass over full guardianship of the city's spirit to the new recruit. Gotham had nobody to guide her. She was born with the spirit of the city, came fully into her powers at a younger age than anybody else ever had, and there was no living Keeper left to guide her through anything. The last Keeper before Corvid was Martha Wayne. It's practically unheard for a Keeper to die without somebody to take over for them. It's happened a few times in the past, but those cities were pretty much destroyed so there was no city left to embody. Nobody has ever been born so fully linked to their city, no child has ever gained their Keeper abilities, and nobody knows why it happened now. To the rest of the Keepers, Gotham is a bit of a freak and a mystery. Not that she minds, she has never felt the need to fit in.

She doesn't return the fake smiles that DC and Polly are turning on her. She levels her best "Batman Glare" at them and feels a grim satisfaction when the physically flinch. In the back of her mind she registers that somebody has put Muse's "Uprising" on the jukebox and she can't help but feel certain that it was Star, he's a raging smartass. The table they're sitting at has gone silent along with all of the other people in the room which works for Gotham; she wants them all to hear this.

She drops her voice into it's lowest registers and puts all of her anger into her statement so that there is absolutely no mistaking the fact that she _is_ making a threat, "I know it was you." Five little words but that's all that needs to be said. More threats would ruin the effect, in her experience it's the quiet, brief types that are the most terrifying. Even the Joker is more frightening when he gets quiet. So she resists the urge to start monologuing like a hyper super-villain although she desperately wants to launch into the monologue from Tommy Boy. It would be so much fun to look DC dead in the eye and say, "I know where you live and I've seen where you sleep. I swear to everything holy that your mothers will cry when they see what I've done to you."

She's pretty sure the movie reference would go over their heads. The important thing is now they know, as do all of their little acolytes at their table. All of those who subtly used their influence to make normally decent people believe that it was okay to abandon her people to die are now fully aware that she has their number. She will see justice done, though, of that they can all be sure. She doesn't care if she has to hack every computer in the country and break into everyone of their houses, she will find everything that they go to bed at night praying stays hidden and she will drag it all kicking and screaming into the light.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and fights the urge to grab and twist it into an arm lock, she doesn't like people touching her if she isn't ready for it, but the voice is friendly and she relaxes a little. "You don't want to waste your time with these half-wit, fat-cat, assholes- they aren't worth it," Star has enough hatred for Gotham's enemies in his voice that she feels like her work at that table is done and follows Star over to the table that he'd called to her from when she first walked in. As conversation pick up again all over the bar he asks in a much quieter voice, "Why didn't you come over when you first came in? We'd have been happy to go over there with you. You don't have to do everything alone."

There's the crux, she does. She's always felt alone in a way that she had only ever thought one person understood when she was little- Batman. Then somebody else who felt just as lonely came along, he and Batman got together and suddenly they weren't so lonely anymore… but knowing they were out there made her feel like she wasn't so alone anymore either. Then she noticed somebody else, a little boy with nobody to love him who was watching Batman and Robin as closely as she was. He was smart and small and lonely and she loved him instantly. Even if he didn't know it, didn't know her, she was watching him the way he was watching the Bats. He was part of her family now too and she would do all she could to protect him. She wanted to protect Jason too, he was always a rebel and she was happy when Gotham became his cause. She still loves him, she still believes in him, and she knows that in his own way he'll do all he can to help things in the city.

Looking around at the table she's being lead towards she can already see Metro looking like he was half a heartbeat away from jumping up, running over to his sister's table and attempting to rescue Gotham whether she needed it or not. She can also see Manhattan and Bronx are at the table but it looks like a few of the other Burroughs are challenging a couple of the New Jersey Cities to various games of darts, pool, and beer pong. Themy, the lone Amazonian here is chatting with Frisco about homophobic tendencies of The World of Men. Keystone and Central, the redheaded twins are making bets about how much they can eat, trying to lure anybody else at the table into a contest with them. Atlan is there but fortunately his sometimes nice somebody crazy sister isn't. There's a new boy there and she has a sneaking suspicion that this all new to him. She takes a seat and orders a drink, not that she actually drinks, but she's really good at pretending to drink. She offers up a half-smile at Star, "I know you'd have wanted to help, but you didn't need to, I handled it."

Star sits down next to her and flashes that killer smile again, "I know I didn't _need_ to help. You never _need_ help, but I still hate them and _want_ to ream them up one side and down the other." She can't help but think he's kind of cute when he starts getting on a soapbox. Star's always passionate about something; usually he's putting that passion into the right things. It helps that he's gorgeous. He has strawberry-blonde hair that looks more red or blonde depending on the day and his mood. His eyes are an intensely bright green and he's built with those broad archer's shoulders that make her melt just a little inside… not that she'd ever let him know it. Largely because he's such a notorious womanizer, but mostly because she just doesn't have room in her life for that kind of relationship.

Star smiles a little at Metro and says, "Sorry, I know Polly's your sister but…"

Metro didn't need him to finish the statement and looks more than a little relieved when Star trails off, "I know what Polly is, so apologies aren't necessary."

Frisco grins at Gotham, "I just love your outfit. I mean, I thought that I would be one of the best dressed here but your outfit is one of those pictures that worth way more than a thousand words." Gotham has to fight a giggle that would ruin her reputation when he leans closer and conspiratorially asks, "And where did you get those jeans? They're so Apocalypse chic."

"No Man's Land, but I'm glad you like. When you're dressing for the Apocalypse it's important to keep fashion in mind. Just because the world's going to hell in a hand basket, there is no excuse not to look your best," She lets a small grin slip out and winks at Frisco. It's a rare event but seems to go far towards lightening the mood of the table.

Star reaches over and touches one of the holes in her jeans where the fishnets are peeking through, "I think that you only wore those to show off your stockings. Just admit that you're trying to seduce me and we'll all go home happy."

Themy, a bronzed skin Amazon with dark brown hair and fierce eyes snaps back at him, "You think every woman is trying to seduce you. I'm fairly certain that you go to funerals and hit on the corpses."

"I've never hit on you… except that one time," Star's almost blushing now.

"That's because I told you that if you ever tried it again I would break off your dick, shove it down your throat and teach you the meaning of the word 'pain'," Themy grins at him, and she manages to look gorgeous and vicious all at the same time. Gotham loves her, she's smart, tough, and never backs down from a challenge.

Star looks a little nervous but argues, "She knows what fishnets do to me. Come on, Pretty-Bird, don't you want to get together and make little cities with me?"

Gotham knows better than to dignify that with a response, because attention will just encourage him. So she turns to the newest addition to the table, "Who's the new kid?"

Manhattan smiles and introduces Smallville to Gotham, not that she really needed the introduction. (It was nice to learn his real name, since his parents had the good sense not to name him "Smallville" and Jonathan is a good name.) She knew who he was the moment she laid eyes on him, although she half-expected somebody to say that he was Metro's kid brother because there is a strong resemblance. She just nods when Metro apologizes for not introducing her to his cousin. In a room filled with representatives of major cities Smallville stands out. In her mind he's one of the few there who looks like an honest, hard working American who probably spends a lot more time trying to make his little town better than worrying about ways to gain power over other cities and Keepers. Nothing about his plaid shirt over a t-shirt and worn jeans screams 'Social Climber' and it makes her think that she might actually like the guy given half-a-chance.

"Welcome to the club, Smallville. With any luck you'll get out of here tonight before Beverly, as in the Hills, tries to make you her next conquest," Gotham nods towards where Beverly is not so subtly crossing and uncrossing her legs while licking her lips and staring at Smallville like he's about to be dinner.

The poor kid turns about five shades paler and shutters a little… that just makes Gotham like him more. He looks desperate to change the subject when he asks, "Is Gotham your given name?"

"I don't have a given name," Gotham does her best to look dark and mysterious.

"Everybody has a real name," Smallville counters.

"Gotham is my _real_ name, but that isn't what you asked. You asked if it was my given name and that's entirely different story," She can't help but think that nothing has ever really been given to her. She's more than paid the price for everything she has.

Frisco laughs, "Don't worry about it. Gotham likes her mysteries. That's why her Champion is known as a Detective."

"The Detective," Four other people at the table correct Frisco so automatically that she doesn't even have an opportunity to do it herself. They all know her opinions well enough to know that she'll suffer any personal insult, but she takes her heroes seriously.

"Anything fascinating going on tomorrow night?" Gotham asks, genuinely curious to see what everybody who doesn't live in a city that goes certifiable Arkham worthy on Halloween does for fun.

Smallville is the first to pipe up, "I have plans with my friend Conner Kent to check out the party at school. He's going to be bringing his girlfriend who lives out of town, so it's kind of a big deal."

Frisco gets a positively devilish grin, "You're still in High School. Oh aren't you just cutest piece of jailbait there ever was?"

Smallville turns bright red and looks so embarrassed that Corvid changes the subject just a little bit, "Kent? Any relation to the famous reporter Clark Kent?" It's a question she knows the answer to, but the kid looks relieved to start gushing about Clark. She doesn't doubt for a moment that this kid belongs to the Superman fan club (heck, he probably give Jimmy Olsen a run for his money) and that he knows Clark's secret… some of the Keepers have a deep enough connection to their cities and heroes that they just _know_ who their Champions really are. Luckily they don't know about anybody outside of their own city, in most cases if they want to know those secrets they have to figure them out themselves and really, most of them aren't smart enough to come close to doing that. Only those who are really truly in line with their heroes can sense the truth in the first place though, so there's little risk of Smallville ever revealing Clark and Conner to anybody. Gotham will still keep an eye on him though, just in case. Those Supers are some of the few friends her boys have and she'll be damned if she lets anybody take them away.

After Smallville finishes gushing about the Kents, Frisco starts to tell everybody about a huge party held every year in his city where all the "Vampires" gather and it actually sounds like fun. Everybody goes around the table talking about their Halloween plans and costumes and for a few minutes Gotham feels almost like a normal girl hanging out with her friends. For a few minutes she forgets that she has no family to go home to, that they were slaughtered in front of her when she was still small. She forgets that every person in this room is a mystical being whose existence is a closely guarded secret. She doesn't think about the fact that she's so paranoid she watches her closest friends as much as her enemies because she just can't help herself. Then the clock strikes twelve and she can feel the magic and madness begin to stir just as the Phantom Stranger appears in order to preside over a little bit of Keeper business. As the wild wonder of Halloween starts to flow through her any illusions of being normal are shattered. She knows that she will never be a normal girl with a family that give her hugs and friends that she trusts with her deepest secrets. She knows that it wasn't real… but it was nice while it lasted.


	3. Chatter

**Title**: Chatter (3/?)**Fandom**:DCU, Bat-Family Centered**Characters**: Corvid/Gotham, Mentions of the Bat-Family and other DCU Characters, The Keepers**Word Count**: 1410 **Rating**: PG-R for swearing**Disclaimer**: I don't own the location of Gotham or the Bat-Crew, or any other DC owned Characters/Locations**Synopsis**: Corvid might swear she can walk home alone, but Smallville worries about her anyway.**Previous Chapters: **Tonight, Almost a Party**Author's Notes**: _This takes place in my Keeperverse. I'm having so much fun with this. I know I figured that by Chapter 3 there would be more Non-OCs, but Smallville ran away with me. He's adorable, and so very worried about Gotham. This would have been up sooner, but my arms were killing me and I could barely move them so typing was pretty much out except for a few minutes a day._

Smallville jumps a bit when Themy nudges him. He hadn't even realized that he'd completely zoned out, just staring at the spot where Gotham practically ran out the door. He and Metro had been insisting on walking her home, but she refused, saying that she could handle herself. He wanted to go anyway, but she threatened to kill anybody who followed her and he kinda believed her. Especially since everybody else at the table said she was being honest. At least she had given him a card with a phone number on it, he'll call it tomorrow to make sure she's alright. She said to only call if somebody was giving him trouble, but he could handle his own problems.

He offers a slightly awkward smile to the table and tries to act like he wasn't considering following Gotham home just in case. She's so little, at first he thought she was a lot taller than she really is, but then he noticed that half her height came from those shoes… Somebody ought to walk her home just to make sure she doesn't trip over those ridiculous shoes and fall victim to one of this city's many lunatics. He really thought she'd be taller, and a guy, maybe Batman. He knows that's stupid, Keepers aren't really supposed to be heroes. There aren't really any laws against, but it's very frowned upon. Most Keepers wouldn't put themselves at that kind of risk anyway; too much is riding on their health.

Themy just grins at Smallville, "You really must be Metro's cousin, you both have that same look on your face that says you're thinking of doing something really stupid. If you follow her home she will break you into little tiny pieces. And then she'll use you as sprinkles on her ice cream cones… Sit down Star or I will drag you back here and bludgeon you myself. Not one of you has been worried about the men who are leaving, but the moment a woman walks out you all jump up like she's going die without your manly assistance."

"The men who have left don't live here, they're all teleporting back to their cities, or wherever they're living at the moment," Metro counters, looking a little offended at the idea of being sexist. Smallville knows that Metro actually is old fashioned, whether he'd own up to it or not. Smallville also knows that his cousin really isn't being sexist right now; he'd try to walk the burliest man in here home if that man lived in Gotham City. He takes a moment to feel grateful that his town has been relatively quiet since he's taken over. His father was the Keeper before him and from what he's said the town used to be a freak-fest. It would have beaten Gotham in a "Weirdness Per Capita" contest… though maybe not by much.

"It's a moot point anyway, she's already home," The Phantom Stranger didn't even look at them as he walked by, but he was definitely talking to them.

Smallville tried not to let his relief show but Frisco laughed, "She's hooked somebody else, and he's just a baby too! Oh Gods have mercy on this poor boy. Metro, quick, get him to a boy-convent, or let me take him home, anything to remove this ridiculous notion from his head."

Smallville sputtered a little at that one and tried not to turn bright red, "It's not like that! I was just worried 'cause she's a girl, and alone, and it's _Gotham!_" He emphasized as if there was no way that anybody could deny the dangers of being alone in Gotham City.

"She is _Gotham_. She was Gotham during No Man's Land, and that was far worse than Gotham during Halloween," Manhattan, who is a lot more quiet than Smallville would have figured, informs him. "When they blew up the bridges it broke all of her limbs, she still managed to crawl to the clinic in the safe zone. That's how she ended up working in the clinic during NML, luckily she's a fast healer because she couldn't have forgiven herself for taking up a bed that someone needed. She had to deal with the pain, heartbreak, starvation and grief of everybody left in Gotham, which was a lot more people than the Government says there were, mixed with the outrage of all the Gothamites who left. She can walk home just fine. Most of us would have broken under that. If anything, she should walk you home."

Smallville can't stop the question, "Why did she stay?"

"She'd never abandon her city," Star answers like the question couldn't have been more stupid. "She said her people needed her then more than ever and that she'd never leave."

"She almost never leaves the borders of her city anyway… excuse me, _cities_," Keystone adds through a mouthful of food.

"She has more than one?" Smallville's pretty sure nobody mentioned that before.

Metro smiles, "Sort of, it's Bludhaven, but in her mind they're the same. Oh, and I tried to talk her out of staying, but she wouldn't listen. We all tried to convince her to leave."

Smallville hated what was done during NML and the entire table is starting to get a dark cloud over it as the individuals are getting lost in thought so he tried to change the subject a little, just to lighten things up but also because he really was curious about the Phantom Stranger, "Does the Stranger track all of us, all the time?"

"Nah," Central is the first to answer, "I mean, he could if wanted, but I don't think he keeps that close of a watch on us all. Everybody knows that the Quintessence watches Gotham more closely than they watch the rest of us, especially the Phantom Stranger."

"It annoys the hell out of her," Star laughs a little, "I think she does things that annoy them just because she suspects they're watching."

Frisco grins, "No way, she does things that annoy them just because they're things she wants to do, I don't think she gives a damn who's watching! She's better than that."

"Somebody has hero worship," Themy smirks at him.

"Oh, she has a few heroes that I'd like to worship, but no, I just think that she's excellent. Fierce, feisty, with her own style, who wouldn't love her? Besides, she and I could never work… we both like men far too much. And she's married," Frisco smiles, looking far too mischievous.

"I didn't know she was married, who is she married too?" Smallville hadn't seen a ring. His cousins didn't mention anything…

"It's not a 'Who' it's a 'What' my Chum," Atlan laughs, "Frisco means her City, she's doesn't care about anything but the city, it's heroes, it's people, and doing everything she can to protect all of the above. She's a woman on a mission, and she's married to her mission." Smallville, along with everyone else, looks up as his cousin Polly walks over to their table.

"And here I thought you meant that she was married to the Bat," Polly smiles, showing way too many teeth and a shiver runs down Smallville's spine. Smallville knows exactly how much of an insult that statement was; he hasn't been a Keeper long, but dating a Champion is seriously frowned upon. It's another one of those things that aren't strict rules against, but practically nobody ever does it. They say it can remove the hero's free will, because loving the Keeper and the city are so similar that they feel compelled to keep going out and risking their lives for the city. There are rumors that Green Lantern, the one who became Parallax, had a thing going on with Coast City, or that they were just really close, and that's why he was willing to go so far to bring her back. Smallville thinks that the real reason is the fear that Champions might figure out the truth, that Keepers exist. Then Keepers might have a more direct influence over the heroes and odds are that they Quintessence doesn't like the idea of anybody having that kind of power. Either way, Keepers are definitely encouraged to keep their distance. Metro gathers up Smallville and drags Polly away before Themy decks her. All the while Polly's muttering to her brother that everyone knows it true and how Gotham doesn't ever follow any of the rules. Smallville finds himself wondering if that's true.


	4. Out Tonight

**Title**: Out Tonight (4/?)**Fandom**:DCU, Bat-Family Centered**Characters**: Corvid/Gotham, Tim Drake/Robin, Bat-Family**Word Count**: 2450 **Rating**: PG-R for swearing and mild violence**Disclaimer**: I don't own the location of Gotham or the Bat-Crew, or any other DC owned Characters/Locations**Synopsis**: Full Moons and Fall Nights are never easy.**Previous Chapters: **Tonight, Almost a Party, Chatter**Author's Notes**: _This takes place in my Keeperverse. I play fast and loose with canon-continuity so I apologize if it seems off, but it is an AU. In this world Tim is still Robin and Jason is an anti-hero (who hasn't slaughtered bunches of people... he's just a little bad). And yes, I stole the title of this from Rent. _

Corvid checks the clock as she rushes to change out of her clothes, it's only 2am which means that she might have enough time to make rounds tonight. She slipped out of the gathering of Keepers as quickly as she could. In order to avoid anybody attempting to walk her home (Metro and Smallville were both rather insistent) she had to agree to meet with everyone in a few weeks for karaoke. She's pretty sure that she'll be able to slip out of it.

Corvid is very aware that most of the Keepers would think she's insane for going out caped and masked to roam the rooftops. It would be pretty disastrous to Gotham if anything incredibly awful happened to her, but she can't sit idly by while her city needs her. The East End can always use the extra help especially on Halloween… especially on a full moon. It's a fact that ER visits and criminal activity both rise on Full Moons and in Gotham they more than double. Luckily she's never tired on Full Moons anyway, there's so much extra energy coursing through the city that she's far too restless to just sit home. She wants to be out in the night, feeling the moonlight dancing on her, breathing in the crisp night air and seeing her city at it's most beautiful. While the crime might go up at night, the darkness still hides so many flaws and whenever she pictures Gotham in her mind she always sees it at night.

She wishes it were easy to put on her costume. Unlike Superman and the Flash, she has no means to quickly peel on the Kevlar, or to quickly snap, lace and tie everything that has to be put on. Sometimes being (sorta) human is obnoxious, but the costume keeps out a lot of potential injuries and it helps her carry all the fun toys. Unfortunately she hasn't gotten into any of the remote Batcaves to get the _really_ fun toys, but it's on her list. She's pretty sure she could manage it if she could hack the BatComputer, she just hasn't been able to get around Oracle. If Corvid weren't so low on funds she would invest in a much better computer and then she _might_ have a chance.

Corvid does one final check in mirror, making sure that her ID is safe. Once she's out the door she'll be Blackbird, and yeah, she knows it's an obvious name. She actually chose it because it was her Mother's favorite song, Corvid sang it at her parents funeral. Her Mom had bought her a little golden charm of a bird when she was born and now she wears it on her Mother's pearls. (She had the charm placed on them when she had the pearls re-strung after the shooting… some of the pearls absorbed a little bit of the blood but she still wears them everyday anyway.) She likes Blackbird, and it's not like she could run around Gotham with any sort of Bat name, because that would definitely draw attention. So far she's pretty sure she hasn't gotten much notice from Batman, all the he's practically omniscient when it comes the Masks in Gotham, but she's hoping to stay lumped in with the random background heroes who don't draw attention if they stay out of anything too major.

She uses her secret exit from her apartment to the roof and surveys the night. She takes a few moments to check on the city, closing her eyes and opening herself up, and she can sense the usual frenzy of the Full Moon. Most of the Halloween related crime will probably come later tonight, so at least that is good. It seems like most of the heroes are soloing it tonight and Selena seems to be out of the area for now. She can feel Robin nearby, it feels as if he's stalking Scarecrow. So far it doesn't feel as if there's a problem so she'll trust that he can handle it.

During rounds she stops three rapes, two shootings, more muggings than she can count and about half-a-dozen B&Es. She's flying through the air on a jump-line enjoying the feel of the night on her skin when she senses it; Jason taking a blow that's going to knock him unconscious. She manages to roll into a rough landing on a nearby rooftop as she transfers some of that blow into herself. She focuses and pulls the pain, taking as much as she can so that Jason can knock out his target and drop them off in front of Police HQ. Damn, she's going to be feeling that one tomorrow, and she's pretty sure that her messed up landing is going to result in a massive bruise on her side. A part of her wants to hunt Jason down and ream him for being so careless, he really does charge headlong into battle without any concern for his health. That would be fine but she actually cares about his health so she'd rather he didn't end up just another sad statistic of Gotham City. His death was hard enough the first time. It wouldn't do her any good to yell at him, he doesn't take advice very well. Experience has always been his best teacher and hopefully that last blow taught him to watch his flank and be more careful. Her aching muscles are telling her it's time to head home. It sounds like a good idea since she's pretty much finished her rounds.

Just as she's about to drag her aching sorry body home she gets a bad feeling about Robin and an even worse feeling that there aren't any available heroes nearby. She's already way too drained from helping Jason to cause anything extraordinary to appear to get Robin out of the situation. She's already on her way to where Scarecrow and Robin are before she even thinks much about what she is doing. Staying off of Batman's radar isn't nearly as important as Tim's wellbeing.

She makes it to the abandoned warehouse as Scarecrow's about to leave. Robin's tied up in a corner looking absolutely terrified which means he wasn't able to escape what must have been a really nasty dose of the Toxin. There's a bomb in the corner that still has ten minutes left on which means that she's got prioritize. She's pretty sure that she can take out Scarecrow, get the bomb and then handle Robin… and if she doesn't at least she'll go down fighting. She puts on her re-breather and tries to ignore the feeling of Robin's panic that's already seeping into her. She grabs her whip and with a few swift flicks of her wrist wraps it around Scarecrow's leg, tripping him and catching him off guard. Blackbird has always been good at blending into the shadows and now isn't any exception. As he stares blindly around the darkness the she pounces on him, striking his pressure points. She's fortunate that she surprised him (he definitely wasn't expecting _her_) because it gave her an advantage, one she uses to subdue him quickly. She injects him with a massive sedative and binds him so thoroughly that she wonders if the cops will be able to untie any point in the near future.

The bomb is next on the list and luckily she still has more than five minutes to defuse it. It only takes about half of that time to deal with the bomb. She uses a prepaid cell phone to call the cops and then grabs Robin. She unties his hands and he immediately starts attacking her so she tries desperately to calm him down. She drags as much of his fear into herself as she can, even though it's starting to make her paranoid and she has a growing certainty that Scarecrow's going to break loose any moment and attack them. Robin seems to calm down slightly though, so she finishes untying him and they manage to get out of the building before GCPD arrives.

"Come on Robin, we need to get you somewhere safe. Where's the nearest cave?" She knows it's a long shot but has to try. She isn't surprised when Tim refuses to give her any information. He's really not looking good. There's a bit of blood on his forehead and she can tell the head injury is bad. It's partially hidden by the upper part of his mask but she can sense how badly it needs treatment. From what she can see he must have at least sprained his ankle, bruised his ribs, and there's the Toxin coursing through his body making him see the things that he tries so hard to keep locked away in the back of his mind and pushing his heart rate to dangerous levels. She doesn't have an antidote for the toxin on her and he's starting to babble. She knows she has to get him somewhere safe fast because a few of the things he's saying would be really helpful in discovering his identity if she didn't already know it.

The closest place with the anti-toxin is the Free Clinic in the East End, since she works there she knows it really well. "It's going to be okay Robin, we're going to the hospital, I'm sure they won't miss a few supplies," Blackbird knows that she's talking mostly to herself but it makes her feel better. She's always had a problem with talking to herself, sometimes it turns into long lasting arguments, but she's Gotham so she can be strange if she wants to be. The Toxin in Tim is getting to her because she sure that she sees three different versions of the Joker (including Venom Joker) on her way to the clinic but she knows it isn't real. It's ridiculously easy to get into the clinic and she would have had them fix the security ages ago but it's so useful. She lays Tim out on the table and administers a sedative, then hunts up the anti-toxin. Not all of the medical facilities in the city keep it in stock but Leslie set this clinic up and she handled enough hero injuries to know that it was a required medication. Once Robin has his medicine she sends up a prayer that he's more out of it than she thinks he is because his head wound is bleeding more and that mask has to come off.

As she goes to remove the mask he starts fending her off. "Tim, settle down," three little words make him go still even as his eyes get a little wide. She studies the mask for moment before figuring out how to get it off without harming herself and realizes that it's linked to Bio-Signatures which means he has to take it off himself. (She imagines that other Bat Sanctioned people could get it off, but she isn't Bat Sanctioned.) "You Bats really do have all the best stuff. My mask doesn't have half the security measures that yours does. Would you mind?"

Tim just lies there looking at her, but he has a huge amount of chemicals in his system and probably would rather remain silent than sound incoherent. She can read the defiance and suspicion in his shoulders and sighs. "Timmy, you're bleeding on my boots. Mask off, we aren't burying another Robin."

He takes off his mask and she sets about the arduous task of treating a head wound. It takes everything in her not to pull his pain into herself. She hates seeing a Robin suffer. Once she can sense the Toxin is out of his system she gives him the pain medication that he would never accept himself. She wishes that she had a couple of nurses to assist her, but that's clearly out of the realm of possibility. She's treated far worse in No Man's Land, poor Helena got herself nearly beat to death more than once, so she's able to get him cleaned up. It doesn't look too bad actually, a good portion of the injury is hidden by his hair and Tim's good enough with make-up to cover the rest. She'll do her best to help him heal quickly, unfortunately it means that the bruising she took early won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Magic always has a cost, especially for a Keeper.

Once she's done fixing him she hands him his mask. Tim quickly puts it back on but he's not looking as worried as he should be. He calmly places the Domino back on his face and instead of taking off he just sits there. Warning bells are sounding in her head and she just looks at him, "You've had your comm on this entire time haven't you?"

He smirks an infinitesimal amount and most people wouldn't even have seen it. She always was a natural when it came to reading body language and micro-expressions. It's a gift and a curse. Cassandra would probably agree. "They're on their way," it's not a question. Now that she's paying attention to something other than Tim she can feel it- The Bat and Nightwing coming in hard and fast from two different directions. She leans down and kisses Tim on the cheek and jumps out the window. She thanks every God that knows of that she only lives across the street- it's close to work. Plus it's right above a cop bar, so she's got built in security. Her Step-Dad was a cop and a damn good one. Her six step-brothers were all cops. Everybody in her family was either GCPD or Bludhaven PD, except her Mom. Her mom was a criminal psychiatrist who worked out at Arkham. Big Mike who runs the bar downstairs acts like she's his adopted daughter, and threatens any guy who looks at her funny because she's not allowed to date cops. She wishes she could tell him that her tastes are a little more… eccentric. There's just something about a guy with deep emotional scars, an addiction to adrenaline, and a deep need to serve both of those things by fighting the superstitious cowardly lot of criminals that plague the world that drives her wild.

She's out of her costume as quickly as possible, hiding it safely away and then watching out her window. She can see Batman and Nightwing leaving the clinic, Batman's carrying Robin down to the car. From what she can spot they're involved in a serious conversation.

Corvid let's out a deep sigh and wonders how long she has until the Bats figure her out, "It won't be long now… I should have drugged him more."


End file.
